The Temple of Cremation in Parma Italy

Erected last year north of the Valera Cemetery in Parma, Italy, The Temple of Cremation designed by Paolo Zermani draws inspiration from Greco-Roman design and local traditions to create a space as solemn as the ceremonies that take place inside its walls. The building’s floor plan is reminiscent of Ancient Greek temples, while the plain brick walls of the exterior quietly fit the surrounding landscape.

The crematory is positioned in the land between the nearby city of Valera and the vast Italian countryside, and the design of the building addresses the relationship between these two disparate environments. A connection is drawn between this relationship and that between life and death, the design attempting a continuity between the two to show that they are inextricably connected.

The temple’s floor plan is divided into three large areas: The Hall of Farewell on one end, the entrance on the other, and two symmetrical gardens hugging the columbaria in the center. The Hall of Farewell is a square room of rich, dark wood and bricks, cut by a massive skylight that sits over the entrance to the crematory. Thus, the gate the body passes through before cremation actually takes it “into the light.”

The positioning of this crematory in the open space near the countryside cuts into the natural landscape, pulling a bit of the urban structure and design of the city into the countryside. Through this location and Zermani’s use of local traditional design elements, those traveling out of the city are able to marvel at the structure’s beauty, and celebrate their life and memories through the memories of their dead.

Images: © Mauro Davoli